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CWA Typo Local Breaks Logjam in Detroit
Detroit Typographical Union 18, CWA Local 14593 has become the first union to reach agreement and ratify a new contract in the long-running dispute with the Detroit News and Free Press.
CWA Vice President Bill Boarman, head of the union’s Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, announced the tentative agreement on behalf of 130 compositors on Feb. 5.
The agreement with the typographical union — one of six unions that struck the newspapers in 1995 and had been locked out since February 1997 when they ended their strike — comes at a time when management has resumed talks with other unions as well.
President Linda Foley, of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, which represents more than a thousand workers at the two papers, said talks have been intermittent.
Negotiations resumed late in 1998, following a unanimous ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last August that the newspapers were guilty of unfair labor practices, ranging from illegal implementation of merit pay proposals prior to the strike to a failure to offer reinstatement to workers after it ended.
While corporations may permanently replace workers who strike over economic issues, it is illegal in a case like the one in Detroit, where the newspapers were found guilty of provoking the strike through unfair labor practices.
Part of the NLRB order was that the newspapers return the remaining locked-out workers to their jobs, with back pay dating to Feb. 14, 1997, when the unions officially ended the strike.
Boarman reported that the new contract runs for 10 years and provides early retirement incentives for about 90 workers covered under lifetime job guarantees.
The incentive is voluntary and includes a $70,000 lump sum, payable over three, five or 10 years, and continuation of health care benefits at no cost for five years or until age 70, whichever comes first.
Sam Attard, local president, says about 75 of the compositors have been called back to work, and that 16 other members not now on the payroll are among those eligible for the buyouts.
While the pact provides wage improvements of at least 2 percent a year, the primary negotiations on wages on behalf of all unions is being conducted under the Detroit Council of Newspapers’ umbrella.
The strike/lockout has had enthusiastic and prolonged support of the labor movement in what is viewed as a battle of the titans, pitting the unions against such media giants as Knight Ridder, which owns the Free Press, and Gannett, owner of the News and publisher of USA Today.
CWA Vice President Bill Boarman, head of the union’s Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector, announced the tentative agreement on behalf of 130 compositors on Feb. 5.
The agreement with the typographical union — one of six unions that struck the newspapers in 1995 and had been locked out since February 1997 when they ended their strike — comes at a time when management has resumed talks with other unions as well.
President Linda Foley, of The Newspaper Guild-CWA, which represents more than a thousand workers at the two papers, said talks have been intermittent.
Negotiations resumed late in 1998, following a unanimous ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last August that the newspapers were guilty of unfair labor practices, ranging from illegal implementation of merit pay proposals prior to the strike to a failure to offer reinstatement to workers after it ended.
While corporations may permanently replace workers who strike over economic issues, it is illegal in a case like the one in Detroit, where the newspapers were found guilty of provoking the strike through unfair labor practices.
Part of the NLRB order was that the newspapers return the remaining locked-out workers to their jobs, with back pay dating to Feb. 14, 1997, when the unions officially ended the strike.
Boarman reported that the new contract runs for 10 years and provides early retirement incentives for about 90 workers covered under lifetime job guarantees.
The incentive is voluntary and includes a $70,000 lump sum, payable over three, five or 10 years, and continuation of health care benefits at no cost for five years or until age 70, whichever comes first.
Sam Attard, local president, says about 75 of the compositors have been called back to work, and that 16 other members not now on the payroll are among those eligible for the buyouts.
While the pact provides wage improvements of at least 2 percent a year, the primary negotiations on wages on behalf of all unions is being conducted under the Detroit Council of Newspapers’ umbrella.
The strike/lockout has had enthusiastic and prolonged support of the labor movement in what is viewed as a battle of the titans, pitting the unions against such media giants as Knight Ridder, which owns the Free Press, and Gannett, owner of the News and publisher of USA Today.